1965 Plymouth Belvedere - Traded Loot

Dave Angelly found this '65 Belvedere at Fast Lane Motors, a consignment and sales lot in Rockford, Illinois, owned by a friend of his. The store had just taken the car in a few hours before Dave arrived to drop off some parts. Though he wasn't shopping for a car at the time, he liked the Plymouth so much he had to have it. Back at home that night, Dave told his wife, Dee Dee, he'd be driving back the next day to pick up a car: "When I described it to her, a gold and white '65 Plymouth, she wrinkled her nose up at it," he says. "It's hard to describe the car; you have to see it to appreciate it."

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How much did the car cost? "I traded a '73 Corvette and some loot for it," Dave quips. The Corvette was pretty nice, too—a 454, four-speed car, so that should give you an idea of what condition the Plymouth was in. "The previous owner's name is Doug Eaton, and he had the car painted," Dave says, crediting Doug for the car's awesome paint and clean interior. It also had a 440 and a TKO600 transmission.

Dave took over from there. He built and installed the rollbar and began making passes with the car. "We're racing almost every weekend. I've got an '85 Cutlass that runs 9.20s, and my son has a Jr. Dragster." Parts started breaking soon afterward, and Dave found himself going through the car, building a new engine for it, and replacing the manual transmission with a TorqueFlite after snapping the pinion yoke during a power-shift. While the rear was out of the car, he upgraded the Dana 60 with a bunch of Moser parts. Now the car is well equipped to handle dragstrip duties, as well as some street driving. "I wouldn't drive it all the way to Chicago, but I drive it around here, and it's OK," says Dave. Well, that's fine if you consider a 10.90-second, full-bodied car just OK.

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I've built and restored lots of cars, but I've always liked these old Mopars. —Dave Angelly

Tech Notes

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Who: Dave Angelly

What: '65 Plymouth Belvedere

Where: Carrier Mills, IL (named after the saw and grist mills owned by George Carrier)

Engine: Dave quickly broke the 440 that was in the car when he bought it. He even broke the rebuilt version of that engine. This version is better, starting with a squared RB block bored 0.030-over and adding a stock-stroke Eagle crankshaft, Eagle connecting rods, and domed JE pistons. The Indy cylinder heads were ported by Brannon Performance and contribute to the engine's cool, 13.0:1 compression ratio. The intake and exhaust valves are stainless, and the cam is a solid roller grind from Erson that delivers 268/276 degrees duration and 0.640/0.622-inch valve lift.

Induction: As cool as the engine's specs are, the real deal when you pop the hood is the cross-ram intake manifold and pair of Carter AFB carburetors. Each flow 625 cfm and are fed by a single Holley fuel pump.

Exhaust: TTi long-tube headers channel the exhaust into a 31⁄2-inch system that also includes a pair of Dynomax mufflers.

Transmission: For dragstrip duties, an automatic transmission suited Dave better, so he removed the TKO five-speed that had been installed by the previous owner and replaced it with a 727 TorqueFlite built by Tranzact Racing Transmissions. The torque converter is from Turbo Action and stalls at nearly 4,000 rpm. The shifter is Hurst's Quarter Stick.

Body: This Plymouth weighs in at 3,560 pounds, and all the body panels are original steel with the exception of the fiberglass hoodscoop. Inside is largely original, as well, just with the subtle addition of an Auto Meter gauge cluster and the unobtrusive rollbar built by Dave at his shop, Angelly Autobody.